The Hacker Manifesto

If you have never read or heard of “The Hacker Manifesto”, then it’s time to now.

by
+++The Mentor+++
Written January 8, 1986

Another one got caught today, it’s all over the papers. “Teenager Arrested in Computer Crime Scandal”, “Hacker Arrested after Bank Tampering”…

Damn kids. They’re all alike.

But did you, in your three-piece psychology and 1950’s technobrain, ever take a look behind the eyes of the hacker? Did you ever wonder what made him tick, what forces shaped him, what may have molded him?

I am a hacker, enter my world…

Mine is a world that begins with school… I’m smarter than most of the other kids, this crap they teach us bores me…

Damn underachiever. They’re all alike.

I’m in junior high or high school. I’ve listened to teachers explain for the fifteenth time how to reduce a fraction. I understand it. “No, Ms. Smith, I didn’t show my work. I did it in my head…”

Damn kid. Probably copied it. They’re all alike.

I made a discovery today. I found a computer. Wait a second, this is cool. It does what I want it to. If it makes a mistake, it’s because I screwed it up. Not because it doesn’t like me… Or feels threatened by me.. Or thinks I’m a smart ass.. Or doesn’t like teaching and shouldn’t be here…

Damn kid. All he does is play games. They’re all alike.

And then it happened… a door opened to a world… rushing through the phone line like heroin through an addict’s veins, an electronic pulse is sent out, a refuge from the day-to-day incompetencies is sought… a board is found. “This is it… this is where I belong…” I know everyone here… even if I’ve never met them, never talked to them, may never hear from them again… I know you all…

Damn kid. Tying up the phone line again. They’re all alike…

You bet your ass we’re all alike… we’ve been spoon-fed baby food at school when we hungered for steak… the bits of meat that you did let slip through were pre-chewed and tasteless. We’ve been dominated by sadists, or ignored by the apathetic. The few that had something to teach found us willing pupils, but those few are like drops of water in the desert.

This is our world now… the world of the electron and the switch, the beauty of the baud. We make use of a service already existing without paying for what could be dirt-cheap if it wasn’t run by profiteering gluttons, and you call us criminals. We explore… and you call us criminals. We seek after knowledge… and you call us criminals. We exist without skin color, without nationality, without religious bias… and you call us criminals. You build atomic bombs, you wage wars, you murder, cheat, and lie to us and try to make us believe it’s for our own good, yet we’re the criminals.

Yes, I am a criminal. My crime is that of curiosity. My crime is that of judging people by what they say and think, not what they look like. My crime is that of outsmarting you, something that you will never forgive me for.

I am a hacker, and this is my manifesto. You may stop this individual, but you can’t stop us all… after all, we’re all alike.

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All Content graciously borrowed from: Mithral.com

Stupid Filter

It’s time to fight back. Are you tired of reading useless, inane, and asinine comments? It bothers me how many stupid people read, write, and post on the internet. If you feel the same way, and want an worthwhile internet experience, then look no further for the Stupid Filter has come. Basically, it runs a filter over text on a web page, and blocks out anything it believes to be “stupid”. It has released a Beta, and works surprisingly well.

As taken from the link, Stupid Filter is:

“The solution: an open-source filter software that can detect rampant stupidity in written English. This will be accomplished with weighted Bayesian or similar analysis and some rules-based processing, similar to spam detection engines. The primary challenge inherent in our task is that stupidity is not a binary distinction, but rather a matter of degree. To this end, we’re collecting a ranked corpus of stupid text, gleaned from user comments on public websites and ranked on a five-point scale.

Eventually, once the research is completed, we plan to release core engine source code for incorporation into content management systems, blogs, wikis and the like. Additionally, we plan to develop a fully implemented Firefox plugin and a WordPress plugin.”

Sounds too good to be true? I guess we will have to wait and find out.

Macworld 2008

The presentation of new tech is done. I am not going to write any gigantic blog posts about new tech goodies, nor shall I talk a lot about Macworld 08′. If you haven’t been keeping yourself informed, what have you been doing? The CES and Macworld are so important to everyone, I can’t even begin to talk about it.

The highlight of Macworld was Steve Jobs 90 minute keynote. If you missed it for some reason, I am providing you with an easy way out. Here is a video of the entire presentation, in 60 seconds! Everything that is important to the average consumer in a minute. Take this great opportunity, and check out the video. For more in depth coverage of the entire CES, and Macworld, Engadget has got it all.

Again, this video is here to help you catch up on everything important; which you may or may not have missed.

Tech Market

I am currently in the market for a few pieces of technology. I am not planning to buy any however, until the CES and Macworld are done. Hopefully a lot of prices will drop then.

First and foremost, I need a new monitor to replace the ol’ faithful I am currently using. The Dell Ultrasharp 22 inch Widescreen is a very strong candidate. I am also planning to buy a serious pair of speakers, to replace the 2.1’s I am using right now. It is almost set in stone that I will replace these with the Logitech Z-5500. I was not joking when I said a serious pair of speakers. These babies have 505 watts of total RMS, and a total peak power of 1010 watts. They are obviously 5.1 surround sound, with one mean Subwoofer. I have also been looking around recently at audio mixers. This would produce an even cleaner and responsive audio output. This would be the lowest on my to buy list though. It is not necessarily needed; it’s more of an audiophical want.

My advice to anyone else who is in the market for technology, wait a month. After the international CES is done, prices on most tech goods will drop. This means that February is the tech buying month.

DRM

Not being able to do what you want, with what you fully own. This is DRM. The average computer user, probably knows little, or has even heard of DRM. Well, it’s time to find out. Taken from Wikipedia:

“Digital rights management (DRM) is an umbrella term that refers to access control technologies used by publishers and copyright holders to limit usage of digital media or devices. It may also refer to restrictions associated with specific instances of digital works or devices. To some extent, DRM overlaps with copy protection, but DRM is usually applied to creative media (music, films, etc.) whereas copy protection typically refers to software.”

I personally, think DRM should no longer exist. I help in the fight against DRM. I want to be able to do whatever I like, with what I legally purchase. I want a world without DRM. I want you to join the fight.

I searched, and found a well organized site explaining more about DRM. Then, I found a similar site which helps defeat DRM: DefectiveByDesign.

/If you want to truely own what you purchase, help abolish DRM./

Quad-Core Rig

Are you in the market for a new computer? If you are, there is a great deal on with Dell. Top of the line performance for a reasonable cost. Let me tell you a bit about this machine. First and foremost, it has FOUR processors! That’s right, four. Average computers nowadays have either one or two processors. Having four processors right now is a bit of an overkill, but will be crazy fast and (hopefully) last you for years to come. Along with the four processors comes three gigabytes of RAM. This ensures that you have the ability to run multiple applications at the same time. Next is the hard drive. It comes with a very large 320 gigabyte hard drive. That means this drive can hold:

-127 two-hour DVD-quality movies or
- 450 hours of VHS-quality video or
- 265 days of around-the-clock MP3 audio or
- 112,500 vivid digital photos or
- 640 action-packed games!

Keep in mind that it is a Dell. It is completely customizable on the website. This will either lower, or greaten the cost of the machine.

Having this monster as a rig, will ensure any average consumer maximal output for minimal cost. Definitely the best bang for your buck.

The Machine

The Vii

Alright, I find this video absolutely hilarious. If you are a techy person, you will probably laugh with me. If not, then you may think this video is not so funny. Now one thing to keep in mind. This is not the well-known Nintendo Wii. This is simply some rip off of it.

Nonetheless, if you are looking for a good laugh, see what happens when these guys open up:

The Vii

TED

The quality of a college education available on one website.

I recently stumbled upon a website, called “TED”. I am overjoyed to be able to share it with you. This website seems to be a collection of highly intellectual people, presenting topics. Now I believe, there is something like an annual “TED” meeting. Thankfully, there are videos of presentations available for free online, for your convenience.

This video seems to be one of the best, which I can find on the site. The description of this video, taken from the site is as follows.

“In a wide-ranging talk, Vilayanur Ramachandran explores how brain damage can reveal the connection between the internal structures of the brain and the corresponding functions of the mind. He talks about phantom limb pain, synesthesia (when people hear color or smell sounds), and the Capgras delusion, when brain-damaged people believe their closest friends and family have been replaced with imposters.”

This video is definitely worth your time. The presentation is superb. I highly recommend that you check this video out, and the site as a whole.